NW2006

The presentations this week at Networkers had a very clear message on the integration of services into the network itself. John Chambers keynote had many of the same ideas shown by Microsoft in their Live Server promotional material.
It is clear that network architects and application developers need to share more information for things to work. Since networks have typically been viewed as a fairly 'dumb' service, it has been easy for networks to run on their own and server guys pile on whatever they like.Â It has been uncommon for an application developer to understand how their creations interact over a network and vice - versa.

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There were two sessions Wednesday Afternoon on Metro Ethernet. The concept of vendors using Ethernet as a standard way to deliver services of various bandwidths seems to be a common theme. The challenges were well laid out in these two sessions on Security and Standards. The security presentation was a solid well laid out piece of work that was very engaging. It demonstrated the risks and laid out the steps that should be taken. While there was questions about Cisco products the presenter was reluctant to turn his presentation in to a product pitch. The second presentation was a very enthusastic discussion on the Metro Standards.

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This afternoons sessions including work on 802.11 location services and Network Security.
The first session of the afternoon presented an interesting use of 802.11 as a multi-service network providing data, voice and location managment. Several vendors are coming to market with RFID tags that are based on 802.11 that can be tracked by an enterprise Wireless network. This cuts down on interference of having multiple networks.
The Network security session was discussing the secure way to manage your network infrastructure. Key points included 'if you were under attack - would you know it?'

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The morning Keynote by John Chambers focused on business transitions and 'where we are going' talk. The demonstration section showed and example of how tecnology could be applied to entertainment (specifically a baseball game) to drive a better customer experience. Access to replays at your seat, presence aware kiosks, and integration between live events and home techology. The goal there to drive better 'experience' and provide better revenue oppoutunities.
At the first break out session, the room set up with tables and chairs so you are not writing on your lap. This is a major improvement from recent conferences. Given the size of the Las Vegas convention center, space is not a concern so adding tables isn't a huge problem. The announced attendance at the conference was 10,000 this morning up from 6,000 last year.

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Blogging this week from Cisco Networkers in Las Vegas. This is one of the better vendor focused conferences you are likely to attend. If this week holds up to past precident. The sessions are lead by the technology and engineering folks rather than the more common marketing types. While Cisco hype is all over the place the information provided is top grade.
This morning started with another romp throught the CCIE routing and switching exam. Which I had completed but had not done the lab in the alloted period of time. Getting that lab done and the 'CCIE' designation is the gold standard in networking.